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Region has advantages to attract physicians

Rock County is doing “pretty well” attracting primary health care physicians despite a statewide shortage identified in a report released this week, a Mercy Health System vice president said.

“I think it’s just normal for recruitment,” said Sue Ripsch, vice president of nursing and physician practices for Mercy. “This town has a lot to sell itself. If people want to move in and have a family, it’s a very good town to come to, very safe with good schools, just a friendly environment.”

Wisconsin residents are waiting longer to see a doctor, and a physician shortage means the situation isn’t likely to improve, according to the report by the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce.

The shortage is more severe in rural areas but even larger cities are understaffed, the report said.

Area health care experts said Rock County has several advantages:

-- Proximity to Madison; Rockford, Ill.; Milwaukee, and Chicago.

Southern Wisconsin has a “fantastic reputation” that helps attract physicians to the Madison area, said Scott Lindblom, director of physician services at Dean Health System.

“With Janesville being close, it is a very positive thing for recruitment,” he said.

-- Mercy’s residency program. The program, based at Mercy’s south clinic in Janesville, is a plus for the city because physicians often end up practicing where they do their residencies, said George Quinn, Wisconsin Hospital Association senior vice president and author of the report.

The three-year program graduates six to seven physicians annually, Ripsch said.

“We retain, by choice, up to about 40 percent in the system,” she said.

-- Wisconsin’s malpractice environment. It is better than in Illinois, Ripsch said. That can draw physicians who have ties to Illinois to work across the state line in Rock and Walworth counties, she said.

Wisconsin has about 10,000 doctors, but a new Web site designed to strengthen recruiting efforts has postings for at least 600 physician jobs. The most urgent need is for primary-care physicians, the report concluded.

Lindblom said he doesn’t anticipate any problems staffing the new St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital and physician office complex when it opens in 2010.

Area patients looking for a new family doctor shouldn’t have problems finding openings, both Ripsch and Lindblom said.

“But we’re finding more and more (patients) want female (doctors),” Ripsch said. “If they’re selective in who they want, it can take awhile.”

Mercy doctors are “comfortably full,” she said, but Mercy’s physicians work with “open access.” That means daily schedules include openings for people who need to get in right away.

“By the end of the day, (they’re) ending up being (booked) solid,” she said.

While the report highlights the shortage of physicians, the challenge is compounded by shortages of other health care professionals such as registered nurses and physical therapists, said Brad Olm, director of hospital support services at Edgerton Hospital and Health Services.

Specialties are affected, he said, pointing to orthopedic surgeons, which he said are in demand.

A nationwide shortage in dermatology is affecting south central Wisconsin as both Dean and Mercy officials said they are recruiting for dermatologists in Janesville and Mercy in Walworth County. The shortage is a result of few graduates, Ripsch said.

Meanwhile, the country’s aging population is creating a physician shortage in gastroenterology everywhere, she said.